Future Route 6 work to be done at night

Daytime traffic headaches along Route 6 are set to be eased after the state Department of Transportation agreed to conduct all of its construction along the Cape's main artery at night.

JON OFFREDO

Daytime traffic headaches along Route 6 are set to be eased after the state Department of Transportation agreed to conduct all of its construction along the Cape's main artery at night.

The agreement, which affects road projects for the foreseeable future, follows frustrating traffic jams that plagued Cape drivers in the months leading up to the summer. The agreement does not affect bridge work, which is headed up by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

"I heard from a number of my constituents on the Cape that the backup on Route 6 from daytime construction was making travel in the area nearly impossible, and I heard about the impact on businesses from the chambers of commerce," Senate President Therese Murray said in a statement.

"The switch from daytime to nighttime construction is great news for the Cape, and I'm glad that MassDOT was willing to work with us on this issue to find a solution."

The idea to switch all construction to nights was to relieve drivers from having to go through not only bridge construction but also roadwork along Route 6, said Frank DePaola, highway administrator for MassDOT.

The changes will affect some major upcoming roadwork on Route 6, starting next April, when there are plans to begin a three-year project to repave the lanes leading from the Sagamore Bridge to Exit 9 in Dennis.

The construction will happen in phases, a third of the project done each year for possibly the next three years.

The first phase is slated to cost about $6.5 million.

All of that construction presumably will be done at night, between the hours of 9 p.m. and 5 or 6 a.m., DePaola said.

The roadwork also would include repainting of lane markers, new drainage and up-to-date shoulders, DePaola said.

Swapping day for night construction is a definite step forward for the Cape's traffic problem, said Wendy Northcross, CEO of the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce.